Cross & Passion, Ballycastle face up to challenge of Clonmel CBS in bid to reach All-Ireland final

Masita Paddy Buggy Cup semi-final

Cross & Passion, Ballycastle v Clonmel CBS

(Saturday, UCD Sport, Dublin 2.30pm)

The schools beaten in last year’s provincial hurling finals by the schools that eventually contested the All-Ireland Paddy Buggy Cup final are on a collision course tomorrow (2pm) in Drumgoon.

St Killian’s, Garron Tower openly acknowledged after last year’s national final that their toughest game in the campaign came from their north Antrim neighbours Cross & Passion, while Blackwater Community School defeated Clonmel narrowly to take last season’s Munster crown.

CPC of course took revenge on St Killian’s in the Danske Bank Mageean final before Christmas, with Páidí Martin’s goal 10 minutes from time eventually swinging the game in Ballycastle’s favour.

Martin played in a Paddy Buggy semi-final two years ago when a student in St Louis’, Ballymena. That ended in a narrow defeat, but, given St Killians’ success last year, there is a hope that the cup can be brought back to Ballycastle for the first time since 2015.

Certainly there was evidence enough to back that up in the Mageean final, with Liam Glackin in charge of a very quick and tenacious defence, Darragh Donnelly and youngster Darragh Kinney a busy midfield pairing and plenty of tricky forwards.

Oisin McCallin was player-of-the-match in the Dub, while Martin’s goal was the game-changer and Conor Donnelly, Ronan Fitzgerald, Roan McGarry and Cadhan Crawford will all weigh in with scores.

Clonmel manager is Tipperary forward Michael Breen and he has a few players of note in his squad, including Aaron Cagney and Conall Morrison, who featured for the county minors last season, while Jamal Yousif captained the Tipp minor footballers.

They and the rest of the team will pose problems for CPC, but the north Antrim school will be competitive and they can come through to meet either Enniscorty CBS or Calasanctus Oranmore in the final in a fortnight.

Masita Michael Cusack Cup (hurling) semi-final

St Patrick’s, Keady v SMÍ, Newcastlewest

(Saturday, Heywood Community School, Ballykill, 2.30pm)

FOR the third weekend since the start of February, a team from St Patrick’s, Keady will travel in the hope of winning a place in an All-Ireland senior final.

The camogie team was first out and they lost in Portumna. Then, last week, the footballers came up short against Ennistymon. This week the hurlers will hope to make it third-time-lucky when they face Munster champions Scoil Mhuire agus Íde from Newcastlewest.

A fortnight ago captain Diarmuid Lyons steered the Limerick school to a 0-10 to 1-5 win over St Mary’s, Newport in the Munster final.

Lyons scored three times from midfield, with corner-forward Conor Hough firing six points, five from frees, while Odhrán Kelleher was a towering presence at the other end of the field.

Keady have been focussed on the Markey Cup football competition since a week before Christmas when they staged a late, late show in Dungannon to win the Danske Bank Casement Cup final. They trailed Rathmore in that game by 2-11 to 1-5 with 10 minutes to go.

Charlie Lennon kick-started the comeback by forcing the sliotar over the line and suddenly momentum changed, with Jack Loughran a huge presence. After Conor Lappin’s shot from inside his own half went all the way to the net, Loughran tapped over three frees for victory.

Other dual players like Seán óg McNaughton, Liam Rafferty and Darragh McKee had a big impact on the game, but St Patrick’s will go into the game as underdogs.

No Casement Cup winning team has progressed through to the final of this competition. Each year the Ulster champions have been very competitive, but simply haven’t got over the line. This year might be different.

In the other semi-final, Coláiste Éinde from Galway will be slight favourites against Boyne Community school from Trim.

Masita Niall McInerney Cup semi-final

Colaiste Phobail, Roscrea v St Patrick’s, Dungiven (Saturday, Kingspan Breffni, 2pm)

IT’s over a decade since CPC defeated Coláiste Phobail, Roscrea in an All-Ireland final and that will be the opposition for St Patrick’s, Dungiven in Kingspan Brefne (tomorrow, 2pm) in their Masita Niall McInerney Cup semi-final.

St Patrick’s only entered the Casement Shield for the first time this year and surprised themselves by winning the competition, the title secured with victory over St Columb’s, Derry in a derby final at the start of February.

Since Ulster teams entered this competition four years ago, only Gaelcholáiste Dhoire have come close to reaching the All-Ireland final. Roscrea will pose a huge problem for the other Dungiven seat of learning.